FOR a man to be photographed shaving in washing up liquid suggests he has a lasting passion for the brand.

Any business looking to outsource must be confident that a service provider will remain enthusiastic long after a contract is signed.

Often that fails to happen because purchasers focus so much on cutting costs that they neglect the other side of the equation - building quality.

According to brand specialist Gervase Cottam, CEO of Edinburgh-based Chartered Brands, the aim should be to find partners who add new dimensions to what a venture can achieve.

Pomegranate juice company Pomegrate was turning over £10,000 a month when it entered into a deal with Chartered Brands.

It was a good product from an entrepreneur who recognised the need for outside expertise to realise its full potential.

Cottam says: "Entrepreneurs don't have the full set of skills at their disposal that we have.

"We can help them punch way above their weight and accelerate growth, while letting them concentrate on what they're good at.

"In this case we reformed the supply chain to get better value and increase the margins.

"At the other end we got it into new retailers and into pubs to broaden availability.

"We also extended it into new lines. The result was we lifted sales to £14 million."

Rather than charging fees, he takes a minority equity stake, ensuring a close and incentivised relationship.

Cottam gets attached to brands and has been involved with boosting Sqezy's fortunes three times.

In fact, he believes the time is right for a retro limited edition of the vintage washing up liquid's original brash packaging.

Chartered Brands is itself a child of the outsourcing revolution.

"Our analysis was that if you take the multinationals, they outsource lots of functions.

"It can be manufacture, sales, distribution, all sorts of things.

"This meant there was a marketplace with lots of people we could get to do these things for us as well.

"This allows us to be much more flexible and to take a brand where it should go."

The future of outsourcing may lie in the search for partners who are a creative and reputation-enhancing addition to your own business.

But for relationships to flourish, it's vital to resist the temptation to micro-manage.

John Mackie, principal consultant with IT and business process advisers EquaTerra, says: "The art of getting the best from outsourcing lies in letting the service provider do what they are good at well.

That's why you hired them.

"You shouldn't demand they do things the same way you always used to."

Doing this can yield gains in cost, profit, efficiency and innovation - but only if expectations are clear and everyone is gaining.

"You mustn't forget why you were doing it in the first place. The relationship and governance have to be kept fresh," says Mackie.

This can be a problem if the original outsourcing decisions were based purely on price.

Ken Hills, CEO of contact centre company TCS believes some companies made mistakes by rushing into offshoring arrangements just because they were cheap.

He recalls a case where telephone sales were offloaded abroad even though the quality reduction was so great it took three times as many calls to get a result.

"It was a business that traded on its brand but just did not seem to realise the enormous damage it was doing to its reputation," says Hills.

A new philosophy is emerging which he believes makes better use of geographical flexibility.

"The smarter companies have started to think about the importance of picking the right place to do business, not just the cheapest."

That is a context in which Scotland - with its educated workforce and lower costs than south-east England - can compete.

Then ask a simple question, will they make me look good with customers?

"You need to think about whether they will help to impress your customers and suppliers by dealing with them more quickly and efficiently," says Hunter.

That means looking at which of them make real efforts to excel.

Dundee-based HoundDog caters for outsourced IT providers looking to stand out for service quality.

HoundDog developed a pay-as-you-go web-based system that means even small IT companies can monitor clients' systems effectively.

Alistair Forbes, chief technology officer, says: "Preventing problems, or being on the case before the customer picks up the phone, is really important.

"That gives you a good reputation, which marks you out.

"It takes time to build a reputation for excellent service, so it's something that's sustainable that another company can't come along and take away from you overnight."

The National Outsourcing Association (NOA) is looking towards a future in which companies take an ever more sophisticated view of what they want from a relationship.

Some are already replacing traditional service level agreements with arrangements that ensure an outsourcer keeps coming up with new and measurable ways to benefit the client's development.

Martyn Hart, NOA chairman, also argues that the market will keep growing and has few natural limits as we get ever-better at commoditising processes and functions.

This is because as soon as something can be hived off the potential arises for external providers to do it better than in-house teams.

However, even the most enthusiastic champions of outsourcing insist it is not an automatic good and benefits come from using it as part of a well-considered approach to providing the best for customers.

"Outsourcing isn't a religion. You don't have to do it.

"It has to come from the business strategy, isolating what would be done better by others and what are the core functions best done by you," says Hart.

Matthew Shelley is a freelance journalist specialising in business and Scottish affairs.

CASE-STUDY: Blog-City

Make yourself the king of content and your website can become a really effective business tool.

Blogs - that's easy-to-update sites rather than the online diaries of spotty Goth teenagers - provide that opportunity because you only outsource the techie stuff.

All too often firms have paid out large sums for an agency to design and run luscious-looking websites which fell into disuse because they were costly or awkward to change.

Alan Williamson, who runs Dumfries specialists Blog-City, says: "Blogging has brought back simplicity - it's the IKEA of the internet.

"So long as you can email you can update the content, so you can always be giving people new reason to visit your site."

Increasing traffic and interest gives the chance to win clients.

High street retailers H&M used Blog-City's services to run a fourmonth blog showing the preparations behind the launch of a range of designer clothes.

That got people talking, which led to customers buying.

And because the key to blogging is creativity not cash, it allows the smallest of companies to get noticed.

They can also see where interest is coming from and gear themselves to fruitful markets.

CASE STUDY: My Ruby

The secretary or PA is the backbone of many a small business.

Without someone to filter calls, take bookings, make appointments and give out information the whole edifice would crumble.

But is there really a need to employ someone full-time?

Virtual PA services like MyRuby claim outsourcing is not only cheaper but better. According to MD Natalie Perillo a good provider can keep alive the intimacy that means so much to boss and customer.

"Some virtual office services can be a bit impersonal.

"But each of our clients has their own virtual PA - or Ruby - who gets to know them, their business and customers.

"For smaller companies it gives a real sense of professionalism to have someone well-trained and friendly to handle calls, make appointments and carry out other important tasks.

"It also leaves other people to get on with what they are good at."

One big attraction of a virtual service is that clients pay for what they use.

Another is that there are no worries about how to cope when the PA calls in sick or heads for a fortnight in the sun.

CASE STUDY: Newtomorrow.com

Right now many companies will be noticing a spike in employee sickness levels and a drop in productivity.

The root cause will often be the stress of financial worries as Christmas credit card bills arrive in households already burdened with debt.

Many HR departments admit that they lack the skills to deal with problems resulting from staff money worries. Access to a good quality debt counselling service can provide a solution.

John Hall, CEO of Invocas Group Plc, says:"There is an enormous pent up problem with consumer debt that is likely to burst as people have to cope with the bills after Christmas"

Newtomorrow.com - part of the Edinburgh-based group - provides companies with a comprehensive, independent and confidential employee debt counselling service.

This ranges from advice on tackling large but manageable debts to tailored personal insolvency packages.

But the quality of the provider makes all the difference.

Hall criticises some for offering "kids with scripts" rather than effective solutions. This, he says, can mean squandering the chance to give vital support that yields benefits for staff and their employers.

CASE STUDY: gofastforward

Change is the only constant in modern business, meaning an ongoing need to update staff training and keep them motivated. External trainers can be ideal for companies that don't have - or wish to supplement - in-house capacity.

The difficulty is to know which will bring real results and which will just give staff a warm glow that rapidly fades when they return to office realities. Callum Meikle, MD of Edinburgh-based management trainers gofastforward, says free trials solve the problem.

"We give people free shots and wonder why others don't do the same.

"We'll say to a company 'give us a group, even your most difficult group' and we'll do something with them, no obligation.

"And we think they'll like what we have achieved with the first ten or 15 so much they'll want to sign up the other 130."

His confidence is because go fast forward emphasises outcomes. This includes 90-minute sessions addressing day-to-day issues - like getting on top of your inbox - that immediately enhance productivity.

Delegates also write down what changes they will make as a result of training, with copies for them and their managers.

"We don't tell them what it should be. It's their big idea. But they have to go away and do it," says Meikle.